Previews

Terminator 3: The Redemption

Better late than never, Arnold is ready to kick some T-X booty. And gun it down. And run it over. And ...

Spiffy:

Lots of action; takes franchise in new directions; blows away last T3 game.

Iffy:

It's really not hard to blow away the last T3 game.

The road was long, but Terminator 3: The Redemption is finally wrapped up and on its way to retail. It may seem odd when you consider that the movies on which it's based came out over a year ago, giving the impression that the license is well past its sell-by date. But on the flipside, it also means that the developers had more time to ensure their game was up to snuff, a consideration I'm sure any gamer could appreciate. I got a demonstration of Redemption's final Xbox build at Atari's recent press event, and while we'll have to reserve overall judgement until we get to play it ourselves, I can say with certainty that it's living up to its promise of being "the better" T3 game.

Better, of course, refers to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, last year's disastrously foul first-person shooter. The Redemption goes to great lengths to distinguish itself from its unfortunate license-mate. For one, it's third-person, so you get to actually see Arnie kicking butt and delivering one-liners. More importantly, vehicular action is the primary focus of the game. Perhaps two-thirds of Redemption's gameplay will involve driving, flying, hijacking, or otherwise making use of instruments of locomotion, giving the game a unique take on the T3 license.

The Final 90 Percent

Since I visited Paradigm's studios for an extensive press tour back in March, this time I wanted the Paradigm fellows to show me what they'd accomplished since then. Since the game play seemed largely in place earlier this year, I was mainly looking for polish, and that's exactly what I found. Sequences that were formerly rough around the edges are now looking considerably smoother. Arnold's model looks super, and his one-liners are now less frequent and annoying. Best of all, the menu systems work now. Woo!

Now that Arnold's combat moves are finalized, he has a nice little arsenal of tricks at his disposal. Suffice it to say that none of the Terminators that crossed his path could put up much of a fight. If he wasn't punching their electronic lights out he was reaching inside their chests and pulling out their power sources, which could then be used as makeshift grenades -- quite unlike human hearts, at least in my experience. Arnold can also defend himself while manning a turret. If an enemy sneaks up from behind, he need only grab the poor bugger and toss it out in front of his turret. That's a very nice idea, and exactly what I'd want to do if I had a cybernetic throwing arm.

Once more into the breach.

But yes, vehicles will be the main focus of the game, and there are plenty of those -- around 20 or so. One I hadn't seen before was an immense robotic tank, which you have to use to destroy a number of generators before some similar, enemy-controlled tanks can destroy you. It was great to see literally dozens of enemy Terminators fall before its mighty treads. Alas, we were not so lucky with the other tanks, and we were soon destroyed.

Another interesting future-based level takes place inside a series of giant tubes, which you get to "surf" down on a hang glider-like machine. Obstacles like support beams and fans block your path down the tube, and much be maneuvered through with precision. At some points you can jump off the main track into special, enemy-free speed tubes. Get hit by an obstacle, though, and you'll fall back down into reach of the waiting robots. All in all, this Tempest-esque tube level looks like a nice, intense change of pace.

Judgment Day

Paradigm gives the appearance of a studio with things well in hand, and seems to have completed The Redemption to its satisfaction. So, it only remains to be seen how it's received by the fans and the press. We'll find out in early September.